No Greater Pain
by Michebellaxo
Summary: Tumblr prompt:Can you make an AU Swan Queen prompt with Emma saying her last words to Regina & Henry before she succumbs to her heart disease? WARNING: Major character death


**Tumblr prompt: Can you make an AU Swan Queen prompt with Emma saying her last words to Regina & Henry before she succumbs to her heart disease? MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH WARNING**

* * *

Emma was lying on the bed in the hospital, her skin paler than usual and her eyes, though still their usual green, were missing the brightness that made them so beautiful. Regina was sitting on the bed holding one of the pale hands in her own, trying to keep it warm. Her free hand was stroking the blonde's cheek and missing the blush that would normally rise to her cheeks at such a touch.

"Emma, I need you to survive this," Regina whispered.

"Baby," the blonde's voice cracked. "I wish I could. I want to spend the rest of your life making you happy, but this isn't something I can come back from."

"What about Gold? Can't we ask him for one of those stupid candlesticks like your mother used to kill my mother?"

"Regina, you know we can't. I could never be ok with taking someone else's life so that I may live. I know you wouldn't either."

"Emma," she whimpered, tears rolling down her face. "I can't do this without you. We're supposed to have forever! We're supposed to be together. I can't lose another person, I won't survive it!"

"You will. You're stronger than you think. You have Henry, you need to stay strong for him."

"And what about when he leaves in two years for college? I'll be all alone again."

"Love again, my sweet Regina." With her last words her eyes closed and Regina panicked, but noticed the weak pulse that was sounding from the heart monitor. She shook her head, she knew she would be scared every time Emma slept until the heart monitor stopped beeping, and with that she didn't know what she would do.

* * *

_Emma and Regina were sitting in the hospital room waiting for Dr. Whale to come back with the blonde's test results. She had been short of breath lately and experiencing many chest pains, she had thought for a while that it was just minor panic attacks, but the past couple were much more severe than anything she had experienced before and they were accompanied with dizziness and nausea, so Regina made her come to the hospital. They spotted the doctor through the glass wall of the room they were in and he didn't look happy._

"_Oh god, its bad news, look at his face, I'm dying. What else makes someone make that face?" Emma panicked._

"_Emma, calm down, I'm sure you're fine."_

"_Yeah, you tell me that when he's making that face about your health."_

_The doctor walked into their room tapping the bent edge of a manila folder in the palm of one of his hands._

"_What's wrong, Dr. Whale?" Regina asked when she realized that Emma wasn't going to be able to speak._

"_Your blood tests are not very promising, Emma. We'll have to do a chest x-ray to find out more."_

"_What does that mean, Dr. Whale?" Regina asked._

"_Let's not get ahead of ourselves. We're going to do the x-ray first, then we'll discuss it further."_

* * *

"R'gina?" Emma croaked, trying to lift her head to look around for the brunette.

"I'm right here, baby," Regina answered, rushing to the blonde's side. "You ok?"

"As good as I can be. Where's Henry?"

"At your mom and dad's. They're going to bring him by in a little bit."

"You know, you should travel."

"What?"

"When I'm gone, and when Henry goes to school. You have all this extra money and you know, all my money is in the saving's account since you never let me use it for anything. You should pay for Henry's school and then use everything else to travel. Get out of Storybrooke, see the world."

"It wouldn't be any fun without you."

"I know, baby. But I'll be here," she whispered, placing her hand over Regina's heart. "I'll never leave there. Even when you find someone else to love."

"Oh Emma, I'll never be able to find someone else to love."

"Don't say that. I need you to be happy. I won't be able to enjoy whatever comes after this if I know you're going to spend the rest of your life sad."

"I don't know what else you would expect Emma, you're…you're everything." The brunette was reduced to tears again.

"Shh, shh… come here, sweetie," Emma soothed, pulling Regina's upper body down against her and holding her tight. They cried together until they both fell asleep.

* * *

"_Your chest x-ray shows congenital heart disease and I'm very sorry, but it doesn't look good," Dr. Whale said in his most sympathetic voice._

"_What does that mean?" Emma asked._

"_It means that you don't have much time."_

"_How much?"_

"_Weeks…maybe months."_

"_What about a transplant or something?" Regina asked._

"_Well, we can't use UNOS the way other places can, Storybrooke isn't on a map. It doesn't really exist, so unless someone here with a compatible heart died, it's not possible."_

"_What if we move? We can leave."_

"_You can try, but I really think that you should just do your best to enjoy this time you have together, just try to spend your time with each other."_

_Both women nodded and when Dr. Whale left them, they were holding each other sobbing._

* * *

"Moms?" Henry called. Both women jarred awake.

"Henry, hey kid. Where's Grandma?"

"They're in the waiting room. They want to come in after I've had some time alone with you." Emma nodded and Regina stood to leave. She squeezed Henry's shoulder and left the room.

"Hey kid, c'mere," Emma said weakly.

"Ma…you can't die. Please? You're supposed to have so much more time! This wasn't supposed to be how are lives were going to go!"

"I know, honey. Sit," she told him, patting the bed next to her hip, he obeyed. "I want you to listen to me, ok?"

Henry nodded. "Yes."

"You be good to your mother, ok? This is going to suck and I know you'll miss me, but she will, too, so you guys need to take care of each other. I know you and Grace are a thing…" he started to open his mouth to argue, but she stopped him. "No…I know you guys are a thing, but your mom doesn't. Just make sure you're being careful if you're having sex, you don't want to have a baby before you're ready, ok?" He nodded.

"Ma…I don't know what to do without you. I know I have mom, but having one of you after having both…that's not fair!" Henry yelled the last three words. Tears were streaming down his face and he wiped them angrily, he told himself he wasn't going to cry. He was 16, he was a man, men don't cry. But, he was pretty sure he saw grandpa crying earlier, so maybe it wasn't such a bad thing.

"Baby, be strong, be happy. That doesn't mean you can't mourn me, that's completely normal and everybody cries, ok? Don't be ashamed about it. Never let anyone you care about think they don't matter, do you understand? You tell people everyday that you love them. You show them how much they mean to you. If there is anything I can say to you that I want you to listen to, it's that. And never be afraid to love. Love with everything you have. Got it?"

Henry nodded again. He leaned into his blonde mother and hugged her, crying hard against her. She coughed and wheezed a bit, so he began to pull away to give her space, but she wrapped her arms around his broad back and held him tightly to her. She kissed his head, shush him soothingly.

"Henry, why don't you go get your mom so we can all three hang out for a little bit?" He stood and looked at her sadly before leaving the room.

* * *

_It was at the station when it happened. Emma and David's shifts overlapped for three hours that day and they were just talking, playing darts and they had both just finished their lunch. A burger and fries for David, fish and a side salad for Emma, per the doctor's orders. Emma tossed one dart, missing just barely. But the second dart didn't even make it within 4 feet of the dartboard and she was bent over, clutching her chest and gasping for air._

"_Emma! Emma!" David yelled, jumping in two strides to get to Emma before kneeling on the floor to pick her up and cradle her next to him. He slid one arm beneath her knees and the other around her neck, jogging as quickly as he could to the police cruiser. He slid her into the back seat, sat in the driver's, threw on his sirens and took off to the hospital. He dialed Regina on his phone._

"_Hello?"_

"_Regina, it's David." She could hear the panic in his voice and the sirens in the background._

"_What's wrong?" she asked, the blood draining from her face._

"_Emma had what I think is a heart attack. Meet me at the hospital, I'm almost there."_

"_I'm coming. Have Snow go to Henry."_

"_See you soon."_

_It was in fact a heart attack, and her estimated time went from weeks or months to days. Her heart was failing her, and they could only guess why._

* * *

Regina and Henry returned to the room and each took up on either side of the bed, squishing Emma in the middle of it. Regina took one pale hand into her own and stroked limp blonde hair out of Emma's face.

"Hey there, darling," she whispered.

"Hey babe. We should have gotten married."

Regina laughed darkly. "It doesn't matter."

"It does, because now you'll be a Mills with nothing left of me to show," Emma teased.

"I'll change my last name to Swan. It doesn't matter to me."

Emma gave a soft and weak smile. "Henry?"

"Yeah ma?"

"Promise me you'll change your eating habits? Eat like a rabbit or a bear, like your mom does. Fish and veggies and fruit, ok?"

"What?"

"Be healthy, ok? Don't eat shit like me. I probably had too much red meat and too many bear claws in my life."

"Shut up, ma."

"I'm serious. I want you and mom to live long and healthy lives. Can you promise me?"

"Yeah, ma, I promise," Henry appeased.

"Emma, you're an idiot," Regina said, though there was no malice in her voice.

"Yeah, but I'm your idiot."

"That you are, dear."

"I love you two, so much. You are the most important people in the world to me, you guys gotta take care of each other."

"Of course, dear."

"And Henry, you're going to go to a good school, right? Do something you love. It doesn't matter if people tell you that you can't make a career out of it, just do what you love. Be passionate, ok?"

"Ok, ma."

Emma was weakening, they could tell by her voice and the fact that she was coughing frequently. Regina texted David and told him that he and Snow could come in if they wanted. They did and they stood at the end of the bed until Regina and Henry moved around to the same side to let them stand next to Emma, too.

"Dad, mom…you guys gotta take care of them for me, ok? Watch out for them?"

"Of course, Emma," David choked, verging on tears. Snow was already unable to speak because of the amount of tears she had streaming down her face.

"I…" she coughed. "I love you all, so…" she coughed harder, choking on the dryness of her throat until her breaths didn't come. The monitor panicked and flat lined.

"Emma!" Regina screamed as nurses came in to pull her and Henry away from the bed the same way that David had just pulled Snow away. Dr. Whale yelled at the nurse to charge the defibrillators, then pressed them to Emma's chest. They tried for five minutes, but she was gone. The only things that could be heard in the room after time of death was called and the monitor was shut off was the heavy sobs and wails of four people, and the occasional whimper of "Emma."


End file.
